Heavy drinkers at risk of dementia

According to a definition by Wikipedia, dementia is a broad category of brain diseases that cause a long-term and often gradual decrease in the ability to think and remember that is great enough to affect a person’s daily functioning.

Other common symptoms include emotional problems, problems with language, and a decrease in motivation.

A newly published study has analyzed that more than a million patients diagnosed with the illness between 2008 and 2013. More importantly, heavy drinkers are at serious risk of dementia.

The study which was published in the Lancet Public Health journal, included 1,109,343 patients discharged from French hospitals during the period.

The study revealed that alcohol use disorders were the strongest modifiable risk factor for the disease.

Researchers said nearly 40% of the 57,353 cases of early-onset of the disease (below 65 years) were directly alcohol-related, and 17.6 per cent had an additional diagnosis of alcohol use disorders.

It is advisable that heavy drinkers go for regular medical care, with treatment or intervention done when necessary.

Lead author Michael Schwarzinger also noted in the report that the research showed damage done to the brain by alcohol is never repaired.

For heavy drinkers who had been sober for a time, the level of risk of the disease is “about the same”, he said.